Paul Akers finds out more from Dale, then Jon, then Phillip, and then Tino about the process used to help the trash get into the trash can every time at the FastCap facility in Ferndale, WA. We love our new facility and we want to keep it that way.

Paul Akers walks us through all the process improvement steps taken to eliminate waste in creating custom parts for a customer. Took the process down from 3 days to 8 hours!!!

Paul Akers demonstrated how to clean the toilet at FastCap.

Paul Akers tries to encourage Matt to change the rock for a hammer.

Just make one very small change every day!!! We call the 2 Second Lean!

Question: In practical application, what degree of control or oversight is in place governing the improvements employees may undertake on a daily basis, regardless of how large or small they may be? How to you prevent a runaway train? I understand that mistakes are ok and expected given that the greater good will prevail, just don’t quite grasp how you keep the rope tight on this issue.

Answer (from Paul Akers): We train of people like crazy. We have lean leads. We have expert lean implementers available for consultation.

Paul Akers demonstrates how FastCap uses QR Codes to help standardize their processes.

Paul Akers demonstrates how FastCap uses a Mouse cart to quickly retrieve products to fulfill orders. For more information on the Mouse Cart, visit their website.

For more information on lean, visit 2 Second Lean.

Come to the shop floor and experience 2 Second Lean like you’ve never seen before. Lukas explains to Paul Akers how he shaved the process of making SpeedTape from 2 hours to 40 minutes!

For more information on this product, visit our website.

Paul Akers and the FastCap management team brainstorm how to take lean to the next level at FastCap. Specifically, what they do each day that is value added for the customer and how to look for variation.

Paul Akers asks Brady, Zach, Austin and Lukas to define, “What is a Lean Leader.”